Technically, the mailings arguably are outside the parameters set forth by the New Hampshire attorney general, which state that public officeholders and their record are fair game for stealth political communications masked as
issue advocacy. The only hitch?
Any time
issue advocacy mentions a candidate, there is a risk that it will be considered to be engaged in campaign intervention.
Finally, the term "
issue advocacy" is also used when people talk about campaign finance law and policy.
(28) Given the Supreme Court's reliance in Citizens United on the proposition that the First Amendment has its fullest and most urgent application to speech uttered during a campaign for political office," (29) coupled with the assumption that the plaintiffs were free to engage in
issue advocacy, that argument surely had merit.
"[Sham
issue advocacy is] really just a thing to get around this restriction, that they can't expressly advocate," Keating says.
Although the government would be permitted to regulate express advocacy in many circumstances, it was not permitted to regulate so-called "
issue advocacy," which was speech that did not use express words such as "vote for" or "vote against." (37)
the Court's treatment of expenditures for
issue advocacy announced
His primary fields of grantmaking expertise include
issue advocacy, public policy, public interest law and journalism, community development and advocacy, the arts, and academic social science and humanities disciplines.
GC: I am the president of a public affairs and
issue advocacy firm, based in D.C., called Thomas Circle Strategies.
When they do, they tend to practice what Pielke terms "stealth
issue advocacy," the presentation of personal opinions in the guise of scientific neutrality, to the detriment of both science's reputation and the production of effective policies.
He criticizes the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for "stealth
issue advocacy"; that is, for sneaking into its analysis assumptions that point to policy recommendations, while pretending to offer only purely scientific observations.
Simply stated, "Framing The Future" should be considered mandatory reading for every political activist, candidate for political office, and social
issue advocacy group in the country.